


To Search for a Rose

by Mewo51



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:49:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9060619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewo51/pseuds/Mewo51
Summary: Ruby was the girl who looked past Weiss' "Ice Queen" facade and saw the girl beneath. She didn't shy away from the lonely girl she saw. Nor did she pity her.No. Instead, she reached inside and brought that girl out of her shell. Ruby Rose offered Weiss something that she never thought she'd have.Friendship.When exactly that friendship escalated into something more was lost on Weiss. But there was no denying the tug on her heart that told her to hell with it all. Ruby was hurt and that’s all that mattered. Ruby needed her.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I had this written prior to Volume 4 Chapter 7, but I only posted it to Tumblr. I was really surprised to find that some of my story actually paralleled with the new episode. Anyways, this is an angsty piece (not that angsty tbh) but has a happy ending.
> 
> Enjoy! :D

It was three days after the Charity Event that Weiss received the news. Three days after enduring her father's rage. Three days after receiving an "accidental" blow to the face and being forced to remain within the confines of her room.

Weiss had never expected to hear from anyone after the fall of Beacon. With Blake on the run, and Yang's...injury. 

_And Ruby..._

The last Weiss saw of her former leader was when she was strung out atop a cot, completely unconscious.

Weiss had wanted so desperately to stay with Ruby and see her through her ordeal. Despite knowing that Ruby was in good hands, Weiss still felt the desire to stay by her partner's side. She had made a promise after all.

It wasn't long after that that Weiss knew that would be impossible.

Her father had come for her, of course. Oh, how Weiss wishes she could say she put up a fight. She wishes that leaving Ruby's side was harder than it appeared; but that was not the case.

She failed Ruby. She broke her promise to be the best partner Ruby could ever have. She failed team RWBY.

It would be easy to shift some of the blame on Blake; to say that she abandoned the team first.

But that wouldn't be fair.

Nothing was fair anymore.

The first day after her father had struck her she spent the entire day in bed.

It would be pointless to try and leave her room anyways. Her father had appointed guards to her quarters to ensure that she behaved and abided by his rules.

On the second day, she couldn't tear her eyes away from her reflection in the mirror. With unshed tears, she gaped at the large, unforgiving bruise covering her right eye.

In the corner of her expansive desk sat a series of meals that remained untouched. She blamed it on her aura depletion after her episode at the party. Surely if her aura levels were low enough to allow her father's first to mark her face then it could cause some sort of sickness.

She knew the real reason behind her loss of appetite was something far worse. Something detrimental to one's mental health.

Early on the third day, she had begun to accept her fate. Her father had made it quite clear that he had no intention of allowing her to continue her Huntsman training. It was time to accept that her days spent at Beacon, no matter how wonderful they might have been, were behind her. This was her life now.

She was next in line in the Schnee family to inherit the family wealth. Whitely was a factor in that as well, but she was sure that if she played her cards right that she would be the one to take over the company. Besides, her little brother was three years her junior after all. 

She would then go on to marry of course. It would be expected of her to carry on the Schnee name and produce an heir. 

Like her mother, she would have to settle. 

At least, that's what she had decided before she received an anonymous message on her scroll.

She was surprised when she was awoken from a nap to the sound of a faint buzzing at her bedside table. She rarely used her scroll. The only instances in which she would use it were when she sought information about the on-goings in Vale. 

She hadn't received a message on the device since...

With caution thrown to the wind, Weiss ungraciously sprung from her slumber and scrambled along her bed for her scroll.

A small part of her worried she had imaged it. 

She couldn't help but accuse her mind of playing tricks on her as her shaking hands grasped the scroll. As she made to open the scroll, she couldn't help but become acutely aware of the beating of her heart.

She was nervous.

_What if it was Blake? She could have sent a message informing me of her location._

_Or Yang? Oh, god. What if it's Yang messaging me and demanding to know why I left her and Ruby all alone._

_Or...what if it was Ruby?_

It was quite startling how shaken the mere thought of her former partner made her. 

_Ruby Rose..._

The single most annoying person Weiss had ever had the pleasure to meet.

Her closest friend.

The source of all Weiss' guilt for the past several months.

It was disgusting how easy it would be to ignore the situation entirely. After all, what would be the point? It was just a few hours ago that Weiss had accepted her life for what it was. The only thing that she could possibly gain from reading it would be further guilt and pain. 

_But still...what if it is Ruby?_

Casting a nervous glance and her door, Weiss confirmed that she was indeed alone. She has been for the past three days. It was foolish of her to fear someone walking in on her, but she worried none the less.

A single tap on her scroll brought its screen to life. With eager eyes, Weiss confirmed that she did indeed receive a text. The knowledge of receiving a text was exciting on its own, and Weiss couldn't help but smile softly to herself.

However, her smile dropped the instant she saw the messenger's ID.

**UNKNOWN**

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Weiss looked at the screen blankly. Another bout of nervousness hit her as she questioned the message's content. Without knowing who sent the message the possibilities were endless. 

She could never quite pin-point exactly why she began to dread opening the message. It was just a gut instinct. Something that she learned to trust during her days at Beacon.

So that's why, with shaking fingers, Weiss opened the message.

Never before had she read something so many times over. It was as if her mind refused to accept what the text was telling her.

It was only when tear drops leaked onto the screen of her scroll that she forced herself to take a calming breath. 

It didn't really work, but it enabled her to reread the message one last time with a clearer mind.

**Ruby seriously hurt.  
At Mistral Hospital.**

_Ruby..._

She was hurt.

Ruby was hurt in Mistral and Weiss was sitting in Atlas feeling sorry for herself.

With a savage shriek, Weiss hurled the scroll. A satisfying crash sounded throughout the room as the device made contact with the wall and shattered. Unable to repress the bitter sob that escaped her, Weiss buried her face into the comforter of her bed. Tears fell freely as she finally allowed herself to grieve over something.

She couldn't do anything.

She was useless.

Useless

Useless

Useless-

_Wait..._

A sudden thought revealed itself.

Weiss knew where Ruby was. Mistral Hospital.

Whoever sent the text purposefully told her of Ruby's condition and whereabouts. They obviously intended for Weiss to come to them...right?

But...her father would never permit it.

Ruby was nothing more than a commoner in his eyes. He will never know of the happiness that the caped girl could give to Weiss. He will never know just how careless and clumsy she is. He will never know how much Weiss loved her.

_Wait-_

_What?_

_...love?_

Weiss' face flushed at the thought. 

Weiss had never loved anyone before. At least not like that.

She couldn't even be sure that the feelings she had for Ruby were love.

She just knew how Ruby made her feel.

_Happy._

Annoyed as well, but mostly happy.

Ruby was the girl who looked past Weiss' "Ice Queen" facade and saw the girl beneath. She didn't shy away from the lonely girl she saw. Nor did she pity her.

No. Instead, she reached inside and brought that girl out of her shell. Ruby Rose offered Weiss something that she never thought she'd have.

Friendship.

When exactly that friendship escalated into something more was lost on Weiss. But there was no denying the tug on her heart that told her to hell with it all. Ruby was hurt and that’s all that mattered. 

Ruby needed her.

Weiss clenched her fists at the thought of Ruby sitting at some hospital all by herself.

Ruby shouldn’t even be in a hospital.

Weiss should go be with her.

No…Weiss was going to go be with her, no matter what.

It’s funny really how things could change so fast for Weiss. Just a few hours ago she was ready to throw away her life. She would have been the perfect little Schnee. Obeying her father’s every whim, marrying some rich man, and birthing a worthy heir to the Schnee throne.

Her father would have loved that, no doubt. 

But not Weiss.

No, Weiss was not the perfect Schnee. She didn’t want to live under her father’s rule any longer. She didn’t want to marry some rich snob and give birth to a child who would be subjected to the torture of the Schnee name.

Maybe she didn’t want to be a Schnee anymore…

None of that mattered at the moment. Not when she had a certain caped red-head to go find.

Weiss silently praised herself for her insight as she carefully pulled Myrtenaster out of the confines of her closet. Her father had insisted that she put the rapier in the mansion’s weaponry, but Weiss knew better that to lock Myrtenaster away. She would never have seen it again had she obeyed.

To say Weiss was terrified would be an understatement. She had never been able to control her summoning before, and the thing that she wanted to summon for her escape was a monumental task, even for Winter. But it was her only chance. Her father has had his mansion packed with security ever since the fall of Beacon. Weiss needed the element of surprise if she were to be successful in leaving.

She had practiced multiple times in the past to control her summoning, but each attempt was met with dull results. She couldn’t afford such results right now. 

With that in mind, she went about the steps in directing her semblance into summoning. It was a tiring task to say the least. It involved various steps, and an exact focus that many would never achieve in their entire lifetime.

The first try wasn’t even the least bit successful.

The second wasn’t much better.

And, the third was an embarrassment in itself.

It was during her fourth try, when her annoyance and anger was at an all time high that something happened; and it wasn’t good.

She could have taken pride in her half-summoning. After all, managing the summon half of what she intended was a massive feat. However, it was still a failure and one that would quite possibly cost her. During her fourth attempt, she did succeed at summoning something, but the glyph in which the summoning transpired collapsed upon itself in the middle of its formation resulting in a minor quake. A quake that shook not just her room, but the entire mansion.

It wasn’t long after that that her door became bombarded with furious poundings as her father’s guards demanded to be let in. And even sooner after that, Weiss’ blood ran cold at the sound of her father’s furious voice shouting from behind the door.

So, Weiss began to panic.

She blew it. Her one chance of breaking free and she totally screwed it up. She was thankful that she bought herself some time when she remembered to both lock her door and shove her dresser in front of it. But, it wouldn’t last long.

New tears poured down her face. Tears of anger at herself to being unable to do the one thing all Schnees should be able to do. Tears of fear for her father’s wrath. Tears of sadness at having failed Ruby yet again.

_Ruby…I’m so sorry._

Falling ungraciously to her knees, Weiss allowed herself to think of Ruby in her final moments before she would surely be taken away by her father and his men. 

She thought of Ruby’s annoyingly optimistic personality and how she saw the good in everyone. She thought of the girl’s silly cape that could always be found around her shoulders. She thought of her silver eyes, and how emotions seemed to pass through them in waves. Happiness, sadness, pain…warmth. She was never good at concealing her emotions. Weiss could read the girl like an open book.

God, she missed everything about Ruby.

A piercing brightness startled Weiss out of her internal musings as she opened her eyes. She became suddenly aware of how her body, which had up till then been laying in a fetal position atop a barren floor now had a massive glyph shining brightly beneath her.

She felt something within her that she hadn’t felt since that day at Beacon.

**Power.**

It was exhilarating as it flowed throughout her veins. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before, and it was surging out into the glyph beneath her.

Weiss barely registered the fact that the pounding at her door had become more insistent, nor did she pay attention to the shrill cry of her father’s voice. Instead, she rose above the chaos, determination rooting deep within her heart. With Myrtenaster drawn, Weiss focused on the glyph beneath her. It was already beginning to take an extreme toll on her body as she felt herself struggling to maintain the massive glyph.

“Please,” she whispered to herself, “please work. I need to be there. I…I need to be with Ruby…”

Time seemed to slow as a single tear rolled past Weiss’ cheek and onto the floor below. One second Weiss stood alone in her room, the next second her room was engulfed in a blinding light. The distant cries of surprise and fear became drowned out by the sound of Weiss’ ceiling collapsing. The entire mansion shook from the force. Nothing could have prepared Weiss for the monstrous being that stood before her, towering over her small frame. It was her White Knight. Its long blade rested just a few inches before her face, poised and ready to do her bidding. Taking note of the shaking of her legs, Weiss wasted no time in having the Knight lay waste to her room’s walls.

It was honestly terrifying to see the tremendous power that the Knight exerted. In a simple swing of its mighty sword, the entirety of the mansion’s right wall was demolished, opening up to the outside world. Weiss could have sworn that she heard her father curse as she had the Knight lower its hand for her to rest in. She smiled at the image of her father cussing. He had always been against such “vulgar” words.

The rest was easy, really. In three strides, Weiss’ Knight had already exited the Schnee manor and was well on its way out of the city of Atlas. 

A trail of sweat trailed down Weiss’ face as she forced herself to hold the summoning together for a little longer. She could feel her aura levels rapidly dropping. She was lucky to have spent three days doing nothing, which in turn had allowed her aura to replenish after her sudden summoning at the Charity Event.

She knew she wouldn’t last much longer, but she had to at least be outside the borders of Atlas before she allowed the summoning to disrupt. Her father had plenty of people within Atlas who could report to him of her whereabouts. She wouldn’t put it past him to have her forcefully brought back to the mansion if he ever found her again.

Weiss gulped at the thought of ever going back.

If her father had been angry before, now he would…

Shaking her head to clear it of her senseless worrying, Weiss tried to focus on the task at hand. Truthfully, it was beginning to become impossible to focus on anything with her mind growing groggier and groggier each second she spent keeping the summoning alive.

As it would turn out, she was well past the boundaries of Atlas when she finally lost the ability to maintain the summoning. However, without the energy to end the summoning properly, she found herself falling unceremoniously out of the sky as the Knight simply “poofed” out of existence.

She hit the ground hard, really hard. She didn’t know how long she laid there. She just knew that she couldn’t move for a very long while. She had forced her aura levels to drop well below the danger zone, and her body was paying the price for it. It felt as though her aura was being ripped from her soul; which is extremely painful.

She didn’t know exactly where she was, but she knew she was in some a forest of sorts. And it was really, really cold. Weiss was well accustomed to the cold, but within the first half hour she found herself freezing.

Her only solace during her time of temporary paralysis was the sun. She took comfort in its brightness, despite being unable to feel its warmth. However, time seemed to travel quickly and the sun gradually gave way to stars and a scattered moon.

God, she was so cold.

It was sometime well into the night that she found herself able to move her toes. Then her legs. Her fingers began to twitch a few minutes after and before she knew it she was wearily scrambling to stand on her own two feet. 

As it would turnout, Myrtenaster was actually a helpful walking stick.

Weiss would have been extremely proud of herself for the feats she had accomplished thus far, but the lethargy of her body forced a permanent scowl on her face as she set out to walk. And she walked for a long time. To be honest, she limped more than walked but she still found that a success in itself.

The following morning, after enduring an entire night of the frigid cold, Weiss nearly cried at the site of a small village. It was one of the few independent villages outside of Atlas, and god was she happy to see it.

In the end, what she had planned to be a three day journey from Atlas to Mistral turned out to be nearly a week.

Weiss had gotten sick.

Apparently walking through a cold forest all night was not good for one’s health, and with her aura levels completely depleted, Weiss’ body was subjected to a severe bout of sickness. The village healer had seen to her and she was a lovely women. The village had welcomed her with open arms; though part of that she suspected was due to her obvious Schnee heritage. They had declined her offer to pay for her stay at a cottage, but through persistence Weiss managed to get them to take her money.

After four days in the village, Weiss set out to the nearest airport. She was already behind schedule enough as it was.

Another day was spent walking. A few grim turned up here and there but Weiss managed to take each of them out when they crossed her path. After dealing with her fifth grim, however, she silently thanked her luck at having not encountered a grim while she was in the forest just a few days ago. She wouldn’t have stood a chance.

By the end of the first day spent walking she had managed to find an airport. Not just any airport, but one of Atlas' biggest military bases.

All was going according to her plan until she stumbled into none other than Ironwood himself. The fear that she felt when he noticed her was uncontrollable. Weiss had been certain that he would tell her father of her whereabouts and have her sent back to the manor. However, to her utter surprise, he offered her a lift to Mistral himself.

For the first time in a long time, Weiss actually felt as though things were beginning to look more optimistic. Without Ruby by her side, it was hard to see the brighter side of things, especially when her father was involved. But, with her being safely in one of Ironwood’s aircrafts and well on her way to Mistral, Weiss couldn’t help but feel content.

_I’m coming Ruby…_

It was quite startling when Ironwood showed her the news reports of her escape. Apparently someone had captured it on video. With a furious blush resembling a certain red-head’s cape she watched as her White Knight completely wrecked the front of her father’s mansion. If he ever found her, she would surely be done for.

On the sixth day after her escape, she had finally made it.

She had quite literally fought tooth and nail to get to Mistral. For the past six days, Weiss had nothing but determination to find Ruby. But, standing there in front of the massive hospital, Weiss couldn’t help but have second thoughts.

_What if Ruby doesn’t want to see me?_

That wouldn’t be too far outside the realm of possibility. After all, Weiss did ditch her and return back home with her tail between her legs. Ruby had every reason to hate her, and Yang did too. Weiss had failed everyone.

_Oh, god. What if everyone else is in there?_

While Weiss had day dreamed about her reunion with Ruby, she certainly hadn’t thought about her reunion with Yang and Blake. What would they say? What would she say?

It would be so, so easy to just walk away from it all. But, she couldn’t. Not after what she did to get here. She had no home to return to, not that she ever really considered the Schnee manor her home. No, when she thought of home she thought of Beacon. Of her team. Of Ruby and her silly smiles and awkward personality.

It was then that Weiss decided on something. Regardless of whether or not Ruby hated her, she would be there by her side. She had already broken her promise once, and she had no intention of breaking it again.

Her father would have to pry her corpse away from Ruby if he was going to try to separate them again.

Ironwood showed her into the hospital. He had apparently called ahead of time and got Ruby’s information. With each step, Weiss felt her anxiety reach a new high. From Blake she expected a withering glare. From Yang a punch, maybe punches? From Ruby…she had no idea what to expect from Ruby.

Of all the things that Weiss had expected, she had never accounted for Yang’s spontaneous personality.

She was several feet from Ruby’s room when her blue irises met purple ones, and Weiss could feel the world come to a sudden stop as she and Yang entered a stare-off.

She expected some prickly remark, or a bitter question, or even a punch to the face, but not what Yang actually did.

“Well looky who came to see ya Rubles”, Yang chirped as she shifted to rest against the door frame, “its Ms. Home wrecker herself, straight from Atlas.”

“Yang what are you talking about-“

Weiss’ heart did a summersault at the sound of that familiar voice; Ruby’s voice.

“Yang-“ god, how she hated how her voice cracked.

“Hey, hey ice princess. Don’t start the water works just yet." Without another word, Yang crossed the distance between them and enveloped Weiss in one of her traditional bear hugs. For once, Weiss couldn’t find it within herself to care about the ferociousness of the hug. Instead, she grasped at Yang like a life line, unashamed to find tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Yang I’m so sorry I-“Weiss stumbled through her words.

“Wait, Weiss? WEISS? Is that Weiss? YANG IS THAT WEISS-“

“Ruby!” another voice called from the room and Weiss couldn’t help but smile. Blake was here too. “You shouldn’t be too active the doctor said-“

“I know, I know. He said not to move around and stuff but it’s Weiss! WEISS! COME IN!”

Weiss never had the heart to turn Ruby down before, and now was no different. Weiss eagerly stepped into the room followed closely by Yang. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for. During her journey she often dreamed about this very moment when Weiss’ eyes would find Ruby’s and they would finally be reunited again.

However, this wasn’t quite like her dream.

Pale blue eyes instantly locked onto Ruby’s; however, they locked onto only one silver eye. In place of where her other eye would be, there was an array of bandages. To many, it would have taken them a while to adjust to something as startling as this, but Weiss found herself not really caring at the moment. The girl that she had been aching to see for months was sitting before her alive and well. That's all that truly mattered to Weiss.

For the past six days, she was left to her imagination to think of various ways in which Ruby was injured. And this…well this wasn’t as bad as most of the outcomes Weiss had conjured.

“Ruby I-“she began.

“WEISS! Ohmygosh, it’s really you!” Ruby was practically dancing in her seat. “I saw that giant white knight thingy you made on the news! It was totally awesome! I can’t believe you’re really here. It’s been so long, and I really missed you-Weiss? Weiss, are you...okay?”

Weiss blinked owlishly for a moment, only just realizing that a fresh wave of tears had begun to stream down her face. A light blush branded her cheeks and she desperately tried to wipe away the tears. Worrying about her was the last thing Ruby needed.

“Weiss…I’m sorry did I say something wrong. I-“

“NO!” Wincing at her outburst, Weiss went on in a more gentle tone. “No, you didn’t do anything. It’s just-I’m just so…happy to see you. When I got the message that you were hurt and at Mistral hospital I feared the worst. I didn’t know what to think and I…” She trailed off.

“So, let me get this straight.” Weiss jumped at the sound of Nora’s voice, only just realizing that the entire team J_NR were also in the room. “You got our message about Ruby and totally wrecked the Schnee mansion to get here? Why didn’t you just, I don’t know…take a private jet here?”

“Nora…” Ren sighed

“What? She’s rich? Her family probably has an entire fleet of awesome jets.”

“It’s… not that simple” Weiss explained. “As of right now, I’m not entirely sure that I can call myself a Schnee. It is for that very reason that my father must not know that I’m here. If he did…”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand, what happened, Weiss?”

Weiss smiled. Typical Ruby, worrying about others when she herself was in critical condition. Bending down, Weiss gently took Ruby’s hand in her own. Yang's observing eyes never felt more focused on her before than in this moment, but Weiss couldn't summon the strength to care. At least, not right now.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters right now is you and your recovery.” Tightening her grip on Ruby’s hand, she continued. “I’ll explain it all later. Just know now that I will be here for you.”

“Weiss…”

“I broke my promise to you before. I promised to be the best partner you ever had and I left you when you needed me most. It won’t happen again. I’ll stay by your side this time, and no one, not even my father can stop that.”

A slap to her shoulder nearly sent Weiss stumbling into Ruby, but thankfully she managed to look unnerved. Yang had her typical grin on her face, and Weiss realized how much she missed that too. Not nearly as much as she had missed Ruby, but she missed it none the less.

“Look at that Rubes. Looks like team RWBY is back at it again. Right Blake?”

“Right.”

Weiss felt foolish for not noticing Blake earlier, but her attention was drawn to a certain girl with bandages covering her face at the moment. To her surprise, Blake no longer wore her bow. With her ears made visible to everyone, Weiss couldn’t help but feel happy for her teammate.

A small squeeze brought her attention back to Ruby. With another blush powdering her cheeks, Weiss noticed that she had yet to let go of Ruby’s hand just yet.

“I’m really glad to see you Weiss…I really missed you.”

A new wave of tears threatened to spill from her eyes. God, how she had missed this girl.

“I missed you too, you dolt.”


End file.
